11-year-old boy complains of wheezing and difficulty “getting enough air.” Notices it more when he is playing baseball and symptoms improve when exercise activity stops. He says that the symptoms are getting worse and the symptoms are even occurring at rest. Mother says the child is allergic to cat dander and his next-door neighbor in their apartment building recently began sheltering cats for the local humane society. Auscultation demonstrates wheezes on forced expiration throughout all lung fields.

An understanding of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems is a critically important component of disease diagnosis and treatment. This importance is magnified by the fact that these two systems work so closely together. A variety of factors and circumstances that impact the emergence and severity of issues in one system can have a role in the performance of the other.  Pathophysiology Essay Paper

Effective disease analysis often requires an understanding that goes beyond these systems and their capacity to work together. The impact of patient characteristics, as well as racial and ethnic variables, can also have an important impact.

An understanding of the symptoms of alterations in cardiovascular and respiratory systems is a critical step in diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. For APRNs this understanding can also help educate patients and guide them through their treatment plans.

In this Assignment, you examine a case study and analyze the symptoms presented. You identify the elements that may be factors in the diagnosis, and you explain the implications to patient health.

In your Case Study Analysis related to the scenario provided, explain the following:

• The cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes that result in the patient presenting these symptoms.

• Any racial/ethnic variables that may impact physiological functioning.

• How these processes interact to affect the patient.

Pathophysiology

The patient in the case study is an 11-year-old boy who came in complaining of wheezing and having trouble obtaining enough breath. His symptoms are aggravated by exertion like playing baseball, and they start to get better as soon as he quits doing that activity. At this time, the symptoms are so severe that he suffers from them even while resting. This indicates that they have progressed to a more serious stage. After further investigation, the boy’s medical history reveals that he has recently been in contact with cat dander, an allergen to which he is hypersensitive. In addition, wheezes were heard during the forced expiration while the lungs were being auscultated. This study will cover the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes that lead to the patient displaying such symptoms, racial and ethnic characteristics that may alter physiological functionality, and how these processes interplay to impact the patient.

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Pathophysiologic Processes

Asthma is likely the condition that the patient is suffering from based on his clinical manifestations. When an already irritated airway reacts to environmental allergens like cat dander, pollen, smoke, or dust, an asthma attack might start developing. When this happens, the airways get constricted and generate an excessive amount of mucus, which causes shortness of breath. The manifestation of asthma symptoms in a person is associated with immune responses that occur in the bronchial passages (Bush, 2019). After being exposed to cat dander, the boy in the case study developed type I hypersensitivity. Because of this, the bronchi get constricted, which ultimately results in an asthma attack. The next process is inflammation, which leads to a greater constriction of the airways as well as an increase in the amount of mucus produced (Bush, 2019). Breathing problems and wheezing are the outcomes that follow. It may take up to two hours for bronchial muscle tightening to subside, although this may be exacerbated by additional irritation and narrowing of the airways.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for ensuring that the bronchus continues to operate normally (Bush, 2019). Allergens like cat dander may irritate the nerve endings in the bronchi, which send signals to the brain stem vagal center and the efferent route. After reaching the bronchial air passages, the efferent nerve endings produce acetylcholine. As a result, a compound called inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate is synthesized in the smooth muscles of the bronchus (Bush, 2019). This causes the muscles to contract more tightly, which in turn causes the airways to become more constricted.  Pathophysiology Essay Paper

Another typical hallmark of asthma is bronchial irritation. It is the outcome of an immunological reaction to allergens that are breathed in. Antigen-presenting cells are responsible for the absorption of allergens that have been inhaled and have entered the internal airways. After that, additional immune system cells, like mastocytes, are exposed to the allergens. Nave helper T lymphocytes are then differentiated into Th2 cells by Interleukin-4, which is released by the mastocytes (Bush, 2019). Following this, the humoral immune system is activated by Th2 cells. After the allergen has been breathed, the body’s humoral immune system produces antibodies to fight it. A humoral reaction is elicited when antibodies detect an allergen that has been inhaled by the patient before. This is when the inflammatory process starts. Chemicals released during the inflammatory process cause the lining of the airway to become thicker (Bush, 2019). Scarring may also develop, which can ultimately result in structural changes in the airways. This causes the cells that generate mucus to expand even more, which results in the production of an increased quantity of mucus with a greater viscosity. Bronchospasms are more likely to occur as the inflammation progresses.

Asthma-related pathophysiologic alterations in the cardiovascular system may be influenced by the same pulmonary mechanisms. For example, those who suffer from asthma have trouble breathing, which results in reduced airflow from the airways to the alveoli (Gerow & Bruner, 2020). Consequently, the alveoli undergo higher intra-alveolar and intrapleural pressure, which results in a considerable reduction in the rate of blood circulation. The lungs then become unable to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the body’s vital organs get only minimal levels of oxygen. By raising the heart pumping force, the cardiovascular system makes up for the reduced blood supply to vital organs (Gerow & Bruner, 2020). These organs will benefit from having their supply of oxygenated blood increased. Hyperventilation hypoxia is a condition that may occur when the oxygen requirements of the body are not met by the pumping of the heart owing to respiratory issues. Respiratory alkalosis is in turn generated by hyperventilation hypoxia. In serious circumstances, respiratory failure can ensue, which can then escalate to subsequent issues involving the cardiopulmonary system.

Racial/Ethnic Variables

There is a correlation between a person’s race or ethnicity and their risk of developing asthma. According to recent studies, the prevalence of asthma is greatest among people of African descent and American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry as contrasted to those of other ethnic backgrounds (Tackett et al., 2020). Individuals from these ethnic backgrounds are more likely to develop asthma because they are exposed to risk factors such as low household income, indoor air pollution, and allergens. In addition to this, the vast majority of these people do not have health insurance, which means that they are unable to acquire the necessary preventative and treatment measures for their asthma.

How the Processes Interact to Affect the Patient

The patient’s asthma condition is an outcome of the interplay between the cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes and ethnic factors. As aforementioned, ethnic minority groups are more likely to suffer from asthma symptoms due to their socio-economic situation. These people have a much higher chance of being subjected to allergens and other variables that increase the likelihood of developing asthma. In the United States, the majority of people who belong to ethnic minorities live in impoverished circumstances, which raises their chance of developing asthma. The boy and his family in the case study are said to be residing in an apartment. The fact that their neighbor owns cats, which produce cat dander, is one of the factors that has led to the patient’s asthma becoming much worse.

Conclusion

Conclusively, asthma symptoms are impacted by cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes as both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are impaired. Race/ethnicity also has a role in a person’s likelihood of developing asthma since minority racial groups are more likely to have several of the risk variables associated with asthma development. As such, the health of asthma patients may be affected further by the interplay of racial/ethnic factors and cardiopulmonary processes.

References

Gerow, M., & Bruner, P. J. (2020). Exercise induced asthma. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557554/

Bush, A. (2019). Pathophysiological mechanisms of asthma. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2019.00068

Tackett, A. P., Farrow, M., Kopel, S. J., Coutinho, M. T., Koinis-Mitchell, D., & McQuaid, E. L. (2020). Racial/ethnic differences in pediatric asthma management: The importance of asthma knowledge, symptom assessment, and family-provider collaboration. Journal of Asthma, 58(10), 1395-1406. https://doi.org/10.1080/02770903.2020.1784191

Pathophysiology Essay Paper